U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room at the White House, in Washington, D.C., Wednesday. Reuters-Yonhap
WASHINGTON/DUBAI — The United States and Iran have reached an outline agreement to extend their ceasefire pending the approval of President Donald Trump, Axios reported on Thursday, after Iran targeted a U.S. air base in Kuwait in the wake of U.S. strikes on what Washington said was an Iranian drone operation.
According to the report by Axios, the two sides agreed on a 60-day memorandum of understanding to extend the truce and launch negotiations on Iran's nuclear program but the plan still needed Trump's signoff. There was no immediate confirmation of the report which prompted oil prices to reverse course and trade lower. Trump has repeatedly said the end of the war is close but told media at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday he was not yet satisfied by the negotiations and that the U.S. was not discussing easing sanctions, one of Tehran's demands.
US and Iran trade blows
The latest attacks, while limited, highlighted the fragility of negotiations to turn the tenuous early-April ceasefire into a lasting agreement to end the three-month-old war, which has killed thousands, and reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping route.
